Silver Strings
by Antigone2
Summary: A crossover with BSSM and The Cherry Project. I had fun writing it.
1. Default Chapter

A.N:  
The main characters in this fic are from one of Naoko Takeuchi's earlier manga   
series called 'The Cherry Project'.   
But if you are familiar even slightly with The Cherry Project   
(http://www.pqangels.com/cherryproject/cp-intro.html)   
or even a fan of figure skating, you may like it. And it DOES have Usagi and   
Mamoru in it.  
SPOILERS for The Cherry Project because it takes place after that manga   
ends.   
  
This story takes place somewhere in the Sailormoon universe, all the inner   
senshi are present, Chibi-Usa isn't (oop-sie. Oversight. Damn. ^_-).   
Because TCP is manga, the Sailormoon characters are more manga based than   
anything, although I think the anime might sneak in at certain times.  
This is really, really, really mushy. Just warning you. ;;  
  
-?Also, just like The Cherry Project, the action is focused not around   
youmas or bad guys or magical powers, but about the confidence and strength one   
must have inside themselves to meet a dream like winning a competition of any   
kind. In other words: less action, more triple lutzes (what IS the plural of   
'lutz' anyway?). ?  
  
Disclaimer: The lovely Takeuchi Naoko takes credit for these wonderful manga I   
am using. And even though it's *not* possible for a girl to do a quadruple, I   
forgive her, and I'm sure Timothy 'Quad King' Goebel would, too. ;; :)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Silver Strings  
A Love Story based on the Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and The Cherry   
Project, both works of manga-ka Naoko Takeuchi.  
  
by Antigone  
2000  
  
  
PART I   
  
I. Gold and Crystal  
  
  
It was cool for springtime in Tokyo; a swift, though gentle, breeze   
rushed between the skyscrapers and ruffled the beautiful pink and white of   
cherry blossoms dotting the small city park.   
  
Chiba Mamoru was out early that day, enjoying the walk to school. Like   
much of the population that morning, he was forgoing any other form of   
transportation for a chance to enjoy the brightest sunshine the city had seen   
since last summer.  
  
In a moment of carelessness that was rather out of character, he casually   
lifted his face up to the sky, admiring the rare blue color that only spread   
across the sky on days like this. Not looking where he was going, it was only   
a short amount of time before a panicked, "Look out!" was his lone warning   
before he snapped to attention, only to see a quick swirl of color flash by him   
as he stumbled backward against a nearby building.  
  
Gaining his footing back a little clumsily, ('I've been spending too much   
time with Usako,' he thought dryly), Mamoru watched the scene before him in   
amazement. The whirlwind of color, which upon closer inspection turned out to   
be a short girl about his age, was just gliding to an amazingly graceful stop   
on her purple in-line skates.  
  
"I'm so sorry!" she said, even though she couldn't resist a quick   
flourish to the small audience that her spectacular spin had attracted, "Are   
you okay?"  
  
She regarded the man in front of her guiltily, although it really was his   
fault, she had hit him pretty hard when she went into an impromptu toe-loop to   
avoid crashing into the nearby lamppost.   
  
"I'm used to it," he answered cryptically, smiling tolerantly at her.   
The girl returned his smile, a dimple appearing in her childlike face,   
  
"Besides, it was my fault," he finished, as he took in her rather strange   
appearance.   
  
Flustered still from the near fall, she was desperately trying to tuck   
one blonde braid back up to its ribbon. A school uniform jacket and skirt were   
haphazardly flung over her warm-up clothes, the green subdued colors   
distinguishing to Green Garden's Academy High School. Finally she gave a   
little satisfied nod at her adjusted hair, which fastened in two strange loops   
on either side of her head. Shifting a small duffel bag over her shoulder, she   
called a quick good-bye to the still-stunned young man, and took off.  
  
Wide-eyed Mamoru and the others gathered could just watch her as she   
glided quickly down the crowded sidewalk, the sports bag over her shoulder   
doing nothing to impede her impeccable balance and grace; even as she nearly   
knocked into a few more hapless pedestrians.  
  
"Wow," a student not much older than Mamoru commented to no one   
specifically.  
  
"I've seen her somewhere before," a woman said thoughtfully, finger to   
her chin, "I wonder where?"  
  
"She's such a cutie..."  
  
Conversation fluttered and faded as the people dispersed, but as Mamoru   
turned to leave, something glinting on the sidewalk caught his eye.  
  
Nestled nearly completely into a large crack in the pavement lay a   
beautiful golden chain, a glinting white crystal fastened on the end.  
  
~~  
  
Breathless, Asuka Chieri stumbled into the classroom, just in time, rows   
and rows of perfectly groomed students taking in her appearance with shaking   
heads.  
  
Blue eyes downcast, Chieri walked into the room, fingers combing through   
tangled blonde strands. One braid had unhooked and fell lopsidedly down the   
left side of her face.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Fujusawa-sensei," she said, bowing gracefully.  
  
Her teacher just shook his head, "Iie, Asuka-san, you are not quite   
late." Concern clouded his brown eyes for a moment as the girl took her seat   
beside her brunette friend Nishimura Yuni.   
  
"Practice go overtime again?" Yuni whispered under her breath.  
  
Nodding, Chieri put a tired hand up to her forehead, "I just can't seem   
to land right on the triple throw." She was about to continue when her teacher   
stood, signaling the beginning of class.   
  
Quickly putting all thoughts of skating out of her mind, the girl quickly   
started taking notes, obviously overwhelmed by the information the teacher was   
delivering. For a few moments Yuni just watched her friend, her face showing   
faint worry.   
~~  
  
"Asuka-san?"   
  
Chieri turned as she prepared to leave the classroom, books in hand and   
gym bag over her shoulder. "Hai, sensei?"  
  
Her teacher lowered her eyes for a moment before gesturing for her to   
come stand in front of his desk. Finally looking up from his hands, he meet   
her eyes and said, "We need to discuss your academic performance, Asuka-san."  
  
Hugging her books to her chest, Chieri nodded silently, feeling her heart   
sink in her chest.   
  
"You came to us a straight-A student, top of the class and even Class   
President all throughout Junior High. Now you come dangerously close to being   
tardy to homeroom nearly every day this week. Is something wrong?"  
  
From her position in the doorway, Yuni spoke up on behalf of her friend.   
"Excuse me, sensei, but Chieri has risen very quickly in the world of figure   
skating and-"   
  
Cutting her off gently with a nod, he continued, not unkindly, "I realize   
skating is large part of your life, Asuka-san, but you did apply to Green   
Garden Academy knowing about our high standards and rigorous schedule. I hope   
you had other reasons for doing so than being near your boyfriend."  
  
Chieri mumbled something neither Yuni nor her teacher could hear.  
  
"Pardon?" Fujusawa asked, and Chieri flushed deeper.  
  
"I said, Tsuzuki not just my 'boyfriend', he's my skating partner."  
  
Yuni grinned from the doorway.  
  
A little nonplussed, the teacher finished, "I just want to make sure you   
understand and can handle the workload." Putting a kind hand on Chieri's thin   
shoulder, he smiled, "I have sincere faith in you, but I want to make sure ice-  
skating doesn't take over your life. You need a solid education to fall back   
on. After all, you can't skate forever."  
~~  
  
The necklace sat lightly in Mamoru's hand as he leaned against the   
counter of the arcade. Shutting his eyes, he curled his fingers around the   
gold one more time, concentrating hard.  
  
Behind his eyelids he saw the blurred image of a kind blonde woman   
running loving hands through her daughters looped braids, in his ear a child's   
voice called for her mommy, breaking with tears.  
  
The image faded and was replaced by a vision of the girl he ran into   
today, a few years younger, standing before a tall boy. He leaned down to   
fasten the necklace around her neck, tenderly smiling at her. 'Tsuzuki,' the   
girl's voice was choked with love.  
  
Opening his eyes again to look at the chain and crystal, Mamoru shook his   
head in frustration. 'I have to return this.' It obviously held more   
emotional value than most objects could, judging by the warmth and visions   
radiating off of it. He knew how important sentimental worth was, for a moment   
his mind drifted to a certain star-shaped pocket watch and the beautiful girl   
it called to mind.  
  
Motoki walked by then, frowning at Mamoru's detached look. "Still upset   
about that?"  
  
Sighing, Mamoru nodded. "I just wish there was some way for me to track   
her down. She's probably missing this by now."  
  
"I bet you could bring it Green Garden Academy and have them hold in the   
office or something."  
  
"I'm not sure it was a Green Garden uniform, though. And that's such a   
huge school..."  
  
A chipper female voice interrupted the two men, "What's up?" Unazuki   
asked, leaning on the counter. With her high pony-tail and pinafore uniform   
she looked every bit the cute waitress of the 50s. She whistled slightly when   
Mamoru held up the necklace for her to inspect. "It's beautiful. Familiar,   
though, somehow."  
  
Mamoru noticed Unazuki's voice had taken the same thoughtful tone as the   
woman from that morning had, and the expression that befell people's faces as   
they tried to recognize what other movies a celebrity had been in, or where   
they had seen a famous person before.   
  
"I remember seeing it on an interview on TV where this pretty girl said   
her necklace was her good luck charm," Unazuki finally said, snapping her   
fingers. "She was a famous... something. Dancer, maybe."   
  
"What did she look like?" Motoki asked, raising his eyebrows at Mamoru.   
Although it wasn't exactly Hollywood, Tokyo was a large metropolitan city that   
had its share of well-known residents. Perhaps Unazuki wasn't so far off. How   
many necklaces like that could there be?  
  
"Blonde hair? Weird style," Unazuki twirled her pointer fingers around   
her ears in loops, "like the Swiss Miss girl."  
  
"You mean Asuka Chieri?!" another voice echoed with teenage excitement   
and Mamoru turned to see Kino Makoto staring at Unazuki in disbelief.  
  
Nodding again, Unazuki cried, "That's it!"  
  
Mamoru grimaced as Makoto grabbed his arm in her amazingly strong grip,   
staring at the necklace in utter amazement. "You have Asuka Chieri... *the*   
Asuka Chieri's..." she trailed off, tightening her hold on Mamoru's poor arm   
in her excitement.  
  
"What's going on?!" A familiar enraged voice washed over Mamoru's ears   
and echoed throughout the arcade.  
  
Marching over to the scene, Tsukino Usagi put her little hands on her   
hips and scrutinized the four bystanders suspiciously.   
  
Sweatdropping a little, the Furuhata siblings backed off nervously.   
Makoto was for once too preoccupied to notice her friend's jealous state as   
Usagi yanked Mamoru's arm away from Makoto's and preceded to hug it to herself.  
  
"I ran into someone named Asuka Chieri today on the sidewalk and she lost   
her necklace," Mamoru explained succinctly to his girlfriend who twisted her   
face in a comical look of deep contemplation.   
  
"Why is that name familiar?" Usagi asked Makoto.  
  
Makoto nearly screamed.  
  
  
II. Anything for You  
  
  
A short while later, all party in question were seated around Makoto in a   
booth, gathered around the large glossy pages of her magazine-like program.  
  
"They sold this at one of the Pairs Performances at the Takanawa Wing,"   
she explained. "A friend of mine used to work there, and she picked me up a   
copy."  
  
Flipping through the color pages of varies skaters, the tall brunette   
stopped and turned the book around for them to see.  
  
"New-comer Asuka Chieri, with well-known skating partner Tsuzuki   
Masanori," Motoki read.  
  
The couple were frozen in time in the several photographs, in complicated   
spins and dance moves. Complimenting each other perfectly; lithe, cheerful   
little Asuka and light-haired, controlled Tsuzuki, twisted together in   
practiced unison for the moment the camera caught them.  
  
"They've been together for about two years now, and already they've   
toured the States, skating at Rockefeller Center for the Christmas   
Performance." Makoto dreamily continued, "Tsuzuki was famous beforehand, but   
Chieri was just new to single skating when they decided to work together."  
  
Usagi smoothed her hand over a photo of Chieri, all lace and white wings,   
smiling nervously beside the calm Tsuzuki just before the show. "She's so   
pretty," the Odango-ed girl sighed wistfully.  
  
"Demo, Usagi-chan, she looks like you," Unazuki pointed to a little file   
photo of Chieri a few years ago, pigtailed and grinning with pure happiness   
while accepting an award for single-skating.   
  
Giggling, Usagi blushed, tugging on Mamoru's arm, "We have to meet them,   
Mamo-chan!"  
  
Just as he opened his mouth to protest, Usagi tugged at his arm again,   
lifting pleading blue eyes to his, "*Please*, Mamo-chan, we'll go to the rink,   
they have to be there sometime. That way she gets her necklace, and I get to   
see them! PLEASE!!"  
  
Motoki hid a smile as he watched his friend's usually iron resolve   
completely melt. Man, Mamoru was so whipped.  
  
"Ah, okay, we'll try the Takanawa Wing Skating Club this afternoon, if   
Asuka-san's necklace is enough to get us in. But we are only going to try   
once! If it's not allowed, I'll go through Green Garden Academy, since I know   
her name now."  
  
"Yey!!" Usagi wrapped her arms tightly around Mamoru, grinning for all   
she was worth, "This is so kakkoi!"   
  
Makoto grinned, "Try to get Tsuzuki's autograph for me," she said, her   
green eyes not leaving his photograph, "he's so handsome. You are not going to   
believe this, but he looks just my old boyfriend sempai..."  
  
"Too bad he's taken." Aino Minako had just arrived and leaned her tan   
arms along the back of the booth, nodding smugly at the photograph of Tsuzuki.  
  
"Just because the two figure skate together doesn't mean they are   
romantically attached," Mamoru told the blonde, who raised her pale eyebrows at   
him challengingly.  
  
"Wanna bet against the senshi of love?" Minako asked, "I don't know who   
these people are," one pink fingernail tapped the photo of Asuka and Tsuzuki,   
his arms around hers in a complicated lift, "but they are definitely in love.   
I can almost see the strands between them, even in the photo."  
  
Mamoru raised an eyebrow. Minako glared at him.  
  
Glancing between them, Makoto silently flipped to the next page, a full   
color spread of the two blondes, posed in the 'kiss'n'cry' before a show, hands   
gracefully entwined, lips pressed together.  
  
"I stand corrected." Mamoru said, and Usagi gasped at the picture,   
releasing her hold on him to take the magazine from Makoto.  
  
"They are so...beautiful," she said dreamily.  
  
"Usagi-chan, you'll love this," Makoto said, leaning her head on her arm   
with stars in her eyes, "rumor has it Tsuzuki was searching for a partner, but   
only the right girl. Meanwhile, there was all this competition to be Tsuzuki's   
partner because he was so well known in men's singles. 'The prince with a   
poker face', they called him, I guess he was the 'heart-throb' of skating. But   
he was already falling in love with Chieri even before they skated. That's why   
they decided to skate together."  
  
"Sugoi," Usagi breathed.  
  
"Romantic," Unazuki sighed.  
  
"They should make a miniseries or manga or something," Minako said,   
dreamily.  
  
"I wish he was *my* boyfriend!" Makoto announced, pulling the magazine   
out of Usagi's hands and pulling it close to her face.  
  
"Me too!" Cried Minako, clasping her hands together.  
  
"Me too!" Unazuki cried.  
  
All the company turned to her with shocked looks and she covered her   
mouth with her hand. "Well," she straightened up and tossed her hair, "I do!"  
  
Mamoru sweatdropped as he watched Motoki threaten his sister teasingly   
with sharing this information with Unazuki's boyfriend. Suddenly, though, his   
attention shifted as he felt Usagi's warm little hand fit into his. Giving her   
a side-long glance he squeezed her hand gently and she rewarded him with a soft   
smile.  
  
"Thanks for letting me go to the rink with you," she said quietly over   
the chaos erupting in the small café, leaning her head on his arm.  
  
Figuring he could get away it since no one was watching, he leaned down   
to kiss her quickly on the cheek, "Anything for you."  
~~  
  
The couple glided over the ice with scissor-like motions, so carefully   
placed as to not tangle blades and fall over onto the ice. Arms were   
outstretched for balance, while hands were spread for elegance, and fingers   
were touching for comfort.  
  
A slim woman stood on the ice, looking every bit the 'Coach' in gray-  
sweats over her athletic body, and a clipboard in her hand. "One, two, three,   
NOW Tsuzuki."  
  
The taller boy released the small blonde from his grasp and spun a bit   
ahead of her, opening his arms for her to ready herself for the triple throw   
jump.  
  
Chieri felt her lungs tighten, even as the familiar feeling of the ice   
steadied for. Getting her momentum, she grasped Tsuzuki's hands and he pulled   
her into his arms, gliding away from the side of the rink. She pressed her   
hands to his shoulders before he spin a few degrees, met her eyes and she   
nodded.  
  
He spun her off into the air and she twisted her body, once, twice,   
three... and slammed into the ice. Hard.  
  
"Itai!" she cried, shoving her hands to her eyes like a child, "I just   
can't do it!"  
  
Quickly skating out to where the girl sat, the woman pulled Chieri up to   
a standing position. "You really shouldn't be having trouble with this,   
Cherry, it isn't that hard. You just have to be prepared for the extra spin   
Tsuzuki is giving you when he throws you in the air. You have more room for   
spinning while you are higher up, use it and you won't crash."  
  
"Hai, Mori-san," she said, running a hand over her forehead, "you told me   
all that this morning."  
  
"Maybe you are having an off-day," Tsuzuki said as he glided backwards to   
rejoin Chieri, "what did our horoscope say today?"  
  
Sighing, Chieri knelt to tug at the laces in her ice-skates. "Um...   
something will seem a misfortune but in the end show its true colors."  
  
Nodding, he ran a hand through his tousled hair. "It's convenient,   
having the same birthday, then I hear my horoscope from you any time I want" he   
spun around the ice lazily, doing a quick jump and landing by Chieri who still   
knelt on the ice frowning at her skate, "ne, Cherry?"  
  
"You make my name sound like a dessert," she said, shaking her head as he   
pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Angel, then," he said, slipping easily into his more intimate nickname   
for her, "are you hurting yourself at all, practicing the jumps?"  
  
Chieri shook her head, "Iie. I'm okay."  
  
"But you aren't meeting my eyes."  
  
"Break it up, kids," Coach Mori called from her position leaning against   
the side of the rink, "if Chieri's skate is re-laced we are going to practice   
the jump until we get it right."  
  
From his arms, Chieri could feel Tsuzuki tense slightly. He always   
worried about her hurting herself with her relentless practice, even before   
they were partners. She knew he had his reasons, good ones, but Chieri was   
used to being eager and energetic in practice while Tsuzuki was poised and   
confident. Even as child, when most girls felt like crying, Chieri just filled   
with cheerful determination. She was, as Tsuzuki often liked to comment   
teasingly, a Festive B bloodtype all over.   
  
"Coach?" he offered, skating over to her effortlessly, and leaning   
casually against the side of the rink, "why don't you and I go through the jump   
a few times? That way Cherry can see how it looks and you can make sure it's   
not me messing it up."  
  
Nodding, Mori turned to Chieri, "Okay, Cherry? Just watch and do what I   
do."  
  
Starting at the crossover, Mori skated with Tsuzuki flawlessly, and he   
lifted her in his arms nearly effortlessly, releasing her in the air like a   
child letting a firefly free into the night. Mori spun three times perfectly   
and ended with a flourish, right leg slightly behind her left. Tsuzuki   
stretched out his hand to hers and they spun to a stop right before death-  
spiral.  
  
"You see, Cherry?" Coach Mori said, "just take the spin he gives you and   
twist your body into it. Did you see what I did?"  
  
Chieri's hands balled into fists, "Hai, Coach, but I know how it is   
*supposed* to look. I just can't get it."  
  
Tsuzuki glanced at Chieri with concern, "Do you want to try one more   
time?"  
  
"I want to try until I get it right!"   
  
Rolling his shoulders a little, Tsuzuki winced, "My arms aren't made of   
iron."  
  
"Please Masanori?" she said, using his first name in a rare show of   
either tenderness or desperation. She couldn't tell.  
  
His stoic face breaking a little in a half-smile, Tsuzuki nodded.   
  
"Anything for you."  
  
"Okay, then, Cherry, just copy exactly what I did." Mori stood to the   
side of the rink, and raised an eyebrow to them, singling start.  
Spreading their arms, they repeated the steps Mori and Tsuzuki had just   
skated, Tsuzuki spinning Chieri through the air and, again, she crashed onto   
the ice, right leg first.  
  
"I am going to be so bruised tomorrow," she murmured, wincing in the pain   
she knew she would feel once the adrenaline wore off.  
  
"Perhaps she needs to do it to music," a voice said from the stands,   
where Fujiwara Hiroshi sat with his head resting thoughtfully on his hand, a   
green baseball cape low over his eyes.  
  
"Perhaps if she lowered it to a double spin," a tall, long-haired Akiyama   
Kouichi said from his seat beside Hiroshi.  
  
"You guys still here?" Tsuzuki said, shaking his head, "You need lives."  
  
"Perhaps if you took the triple jump out of the program," a new voice   
said, "it would go smoother." A small, lithe beauty was seated in the front   
row, legs crossed and lips pursed thoughtfully.  
  
"Hello Canty," Chieri said, greeting her friend Kouichi's little sister   
awkwardly. It was strange, now that their rivalry was over, were they supposed   
to be friends? Chieri was never sure, she had always admired the 'Princess' of   
ice-skating, even while she was desperately trying to prove herself. Even now,   
and at all her low points, Chieri compared herself to Canty, the younger girl   
who had always loved Tsuzuki, always skated so perfectly.   
  
Canty gave Chieri a sincere, if quick, smile, before calling to her   
brother, "I'm going home now, it's nearly dinnertime and while you may have   
nothing else to do but watch Cherry sit on the ice, I have a life. Ja ne!"   
She waved very gracefully and turned to leave, but not before addressing   
Tsuzuki and Mori with, "Think about what I said."  
  
A few moments of silence followed Canty's exit.  
  
"We could, you know," Tsuzuki said, hesitantly.  
  
"Could what?" Chieri asked testily.  
  
"Take the throw out of the program. We could go right from crossovers to   
the death-spiral, maybe Mori could think of some more dance moves to give it   
flare. What do you think?"  
  
Chieri would glare, if she could possible glare into eyes that beautiful,   
so instead she just frowned a little at him. "Let's try again."  
  
"Only once more, Cherry," Mori said, "Tsuzuki is exhausting his arms, and   
you are hurting your leg. We can do other parts of the program after this."  
  
This time, as Tsuzuki lifted Chieri, she refused to meet his eyes,   
focusing only on the landing she would have to make. He lifted his arms, gave   
her an upward thrust into the air...  
  
Twist once... twice...  
  
"Cherry!"  
  
All at once she felt Tsuzuki grab her hand, but too early, she hadn't   
landed yet. Crying out, she lost her balance in the air and both people   
crashed backward on to the ice.  
  
"What was that?!" Kouichi's voice echoed throughout the rink.  
  
Sitting up slowly, Chieri regarded her fallen partner, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Hai, you?"  
  
She nodded, confusion marring her features as they stood up. "Why did   
you do that? I could have had it!"  
  
Tsuzuki looked at her for second. "You were putting in too much twist.   
You would have landed on your hip. Hard."  
  
For a second Chieri thought she was going to cry, instead she screamed.   
It was tearing her up inside, this jump she just couldn't seem to do for   
Tsuzuki, no matter how hard she tried.  
  
"I would have had it!" she cried, her voice raw, "I could have then! If   
you had the littlest amount of faith in me, you'd let me just make my own   
mistakes!!"  
  
Shocked speechless, all present could just stare. This was so unlike   
their cheerful little Chieri, they didn't know what to do.  
  
Now that her outburst was over, Chieri just stood there, hands in fists,   
eyes trained on the ice. Now what? She felt she couldn't look at her Tsuzuki,   
or Coach Mori, after that embarrassment. Abruptly, she turned to leave,   
skating to the exit and running into the dressing room.  
  
'First you fall on the ice like a child's first time on skates, then you   
through a tantrum like a little girl. Wonderful Chieri.' She thought, ripping   
her skates off and tugging a sweater over her skating uniform.  
  
Wiping tears fiercely from her eyes, Chieri slung her bag over her   
shoulder, deciding to walk instead of rollarblade home. Skating in any form   
made her happy and at peace, and that was one thing she didn't feel she   
deserved tonight.  
  
'He calls me 'Angel' but I can't even live up to being a half-decent   
klutz. Perhaps he *should* have just skated with Canty from the beginning.'  
  
Reaching up to clasp her mother's necklace in her hand, Chieri's tears   
finally began to fall when she realized it was missing.  
~~  
  
"This is it," Mamoru said, as he and Usagi faced the rather imposing   
building looming before them.   
  
"It seems very high-class," Usagi commented, feeling a little intimidated   
by the heavy doors.  
  
"We might not be able to get in," Mamoru said realistically, but Usagi   
was already tugging at his arm.  
  
"Come on, Mamo-chan, we have the necklace so they have to let us in!"  
  
"Can I help you?" A cold voice asked, and the couple found themselves   
face to face with a stunningly beautiful girl, eyebrow raised and poise regal.  
  
Clearing his throat a little, Mamoru answered, "Yes, actually, we have an   
important delivery for Asuka Chieri."  
  
Smirking a little, the girl shook her head, "She's not here right now,   
left rather quickly actually. What is it you want to give her?"  
Usagi held the chain in view, gold entwined with her fingers. "This."  
  
The girl let out a low whistle, shaking her head so short blonde hair   
swung around her face, "Chieri-chan's lucky necklace. You better give it to   
Coach Mori." She turned to leave, before turning again and calling, "Oh, don't   
worry about getting in, my father owns the place. Just tell them Akiyama Canty   
said it was okay." Tossing her hair again, the girl again made her way   
gracefully down the stairs.  
  
"Akiyama Canty is another skater Mako-chan likes," Usagi murmured as the   
two continued up the stairs to the door, "apparently she's the best singles   
female there is."  
  
Feeling a little like he was out of league, something Chiba Mamoru was   
not used to feeling, Mamoru opened the door of rink.  
  
It was a huge arena, seats and judges boxes set up around the huge   
expanse of white ice, and cold, Usagi instantly cuddled closer to Mamoru as   
they approached the ice.  
  
"Do you know where, um, I guess someone called 'Coach Mori' is?" Usagi   
asked a baseball capped boy sitting in the first row of the stands.  
  
Blinking a few times, a blushing Hiroshi took in the sight of the pretty   
blonde girl suddenly not two feet from him. "Yes," he said, pointing to one of   
the two figures on the ice in front of them, "that's her. Why?"  
  
"It's important," was all Usagi would say.   
  
Kouichi put his hands around his mouth and called, "Hey, COACH!"   
  
Usagi watched as an annoyed looking woman and a very handsome, familiar,   
young man followed her.   
  
Wordlessly, Usagi held out the necklace for them to see, and she saw the   
man gasp.  
  
"Where did you find that?" he said, as he reached out for it.  
  
"Asuka-san and I ran into each other this morning," Mamoru explained,   
"and she dropped that necklace on the sidewalk. I didn't find it until she   
left."  
  
Usagi let the ribbon of gold coil into Tsuzuki's hand and he gently held   
the chain in his hands. "It's her lucky necklace," he murmured, "she wasn't   
wearing it today."  
  
Rolling her eyes, the woman who must have been Coach Mori sighed, "Don't   
you get started in this superstitious stuff, too, Tsuzuki. Cherry depends too   
much on charms, and you know it."  
  
Mamoru thought back for a moment to the visions he saw when concentrating   
on the necklace. Chieri's voice as the necklace was fastened around her neck   
by her future skating partner, as she whispered his name.  
  
Tsuzuki just curled his hand around the necklace, and gave Mori a   
sarcastic look. "It means a lot to her, that's all."  
  
He gave Mamoru a kind look, "Thank you for returning it. I'll make sure   
she gets it back."  
  
Mamoru returned his nod, and Usagi just gawked, feeling as starstruck as   
Minako in the presence of someone as well-known, in the figure-skating world at   
least, as Tsuzuki Masanori.  
  
"What are your names?" Coach Mori asked, putting pencil to clipboard.   
Although she did not approve of her protégé's dependency on luck and charms,   
she knew how much Chieri valued the necklace as a connection to her late   
mother, and she wanted to thank this pretty young couple in any way she could.   
Perhaps tickets to the next performance... although most likely, at this rate,   
all the famed Tsuzuki and Asuka pair would have nothing to show but how   
fantastically they could fall all over one another.  
  
Sighing, Mori glanced at Tsuzuki, pensive since Chieri left so quickly,   
staring at the necklace, face expressionless. He had so much potential,   
especially paired with Asuka, but potential didn't get you a gold metal,   
potential wasn't enough to stable a career enough to go pro. Potential didn't   
let you skate forever.   
  
  
III. Cherry Blossoms  
  
  
The night got cold quickly, but Chieri didn't bother to bundle up more.   
She had spent entire nights in nothing but a leotard in the freezing cold   
skating rink beneath Tsuzuki's mansion, this cold was nothing to her skater's   
blood. Leaning her arms on her knees, she didn't move from her seat in the   
park, ignoring the growling of her stomach and the goose-bumps on her legs.   
The soft sweater only fell to her knees, her practice skating dress was purple   
and light, and her sneakers nearly white with lack of use. What a strange   
sight she must make, a strangely dressed, nearly crying girl huddled so   
miserably on the outskirts on the city park while all other children were   
eating with their families.  
  
A cherry blossom from a nearby tree fluttered in front of her face, and   
Chieri impatiently brushed it away. Another fell, then another one, and   
finally she looked up into the sprinkling of petals to see Tsuzuki standing   
behind her, hands full of pink blossoms.  
  
"Cherry," he said lightly, "angel. What are you doing out here all   
alone?"  
  
She scooted over on the grass and he joined her, stretching long legs and   
relaxing his aching shoulders.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said softly.  
  
He looked at her for moment, and she forced herself to meet his eyes,   
blue like hers, and she knew there was no need for apologies.  
  
Sighing, she leaned her head on her knees again, "Mom's necklace is   
missing."  
  
His lips moved into a slight smile, his eyes light in a look she had   
never seen him give anyone else. "You lost it when you ran into that guy   
today."  
  
Chieri gasped as Tsuzuki gently tucked the precious item into the girl's   
small hands.  
  
"It keeps returning to you," he joked a little, "perhaps it really is   
lucky."  
  
Clutching it to her chest, Chieri blushed a little. She had always   
believed, somehow, the necklace had some sort of power... it brought her and   
Tsuzuki together. Running her finger slightly down the place on his face where   
the necklace had cut him, so long ago, she smiled slightly and he knew what she   
was thinking.  
  
"The clasp is broken," Tsuzuki said, returning his gaze to the necklace,   
"we'll have to get it fixed before the competition."  
  
Chieri felt her heart squeeze in her chest, without the comforting weight   
of the crystal against her. The competition was nothing too big, a corporate   
sponsored thing, but winning that could well be their building block to get   
onto the Japanese Olympic team. The triple throw jump was to be part of their   
technical program, a jump complicated enough to up their standings against some   
of the most well-known pairs in Japan.  
  
"We can't take the jump out of the program," she admitted to him, "you   
and I both know that."  
  
He was silent for a while, his hand on hers comforting a bit. "Cherry?"   
he began hesitantly, "Why didn't you just do what you saw Coach do? Follow her   
exactly like-" he didn't finish his sentence but he didn't have to.  
  
"I'm not a copy machine anymore!" she choked out, eyes shut and fists   
clenched as she remembered a time when the ice scared her more than any thing   
in the world, and she was all alone...   
  
She felt Tsuzuki tug her quickly into his embrace, "I know," he said   
softly, "I know, I know, angel, but you are missing so many basics because you   
started so late, that's all." His voice was soft and gentle, but it had   
already taken the tone she knew so well, the tone when he talked about   
technical things. It was obvious he knew what he was talking about, and   
nothing else mattered at that moment. "There is a fine line between being a   
copy machine and just using other people's training to help you. That's all."  
  
Chieri was silent, running her fingers over some haphazardly flung cherry   
blossoms scattered around them. "I am trying," she offered, her voice choking,   
"maybe I've reached my limit. You have potential, you don't have to waste it   
on me."  
  
She knew he was shocked. She knew the silence that suddenly took them   
over was not a good thing. But she couldn't help it, she had finally said what   
she had been feeling for so long.  
  
When he finally spoke, Tsuzuki's voice was so quiet she had to strain to   
hear him, "You have the best presentation of anyone Mori or I have ever seen   
before. Once Yuni told me that since you did everything you tried with so much   
enthusiasm, it made up for everything else. It's true. You are the best. You   
skate with love."  
  
"I love skating as much as I love you," she told him, "but you are the   
top of the class, going to inherent your father's company. You have a future."  
  
He just watched her.   
  
"We can't skate forever."  
  
Tsuzuki didn't say anything. He knew it was true. Mori talked about   
going pro, but his father had enough trouble letting his son skate even for a   
little while long, with the promise of the Olympics a major reason for that.   
  
"We can be together forever," he offered, softly.  
  
The dim evening light hid their faces from each other, but it didn't   
matter, they knew what he meant.  
  
"I'd like that," she answered.  
  
For a moment neither spoke, until Tsuzuki abashedly ran his hand through   
his hair and stood up. Offering her his hand, he said, "Let's go to my rink,   
and run through our creative piece. No coach, no Kouichi and his peanut   
gallery, just you, me and the music."  
  
Taking his hand, Chieri stood and smiled, tucking the necklace into her   
bag, "Sounds wonderful to me."  
~~  
  
Makoto leaned back against her sofa, the flickering light from the TV the   
only illumination in the small room. Her four friends and fellow senshi were   
draped in various positions over the couch, listening to the soft music from   
the TV and Makoto's running commentary.  
  
"Okay, this is where Asuka did that extra twist in the unison jump. The   
coach maintains it was entirely unplanned, yet somehow Tsuzuki did the same   
number of rotations. It was very strange, both of them say it was completely   
spontaneous."  
  
"Possibly they have some sort of mind connection," Rei said knowingly, as   
she twisted glossy hair back behind to head to make a more comfortable pillow   
out of the sofa's armrest.   
  
"Mina-P?" asked Usagi thoughtfully, "How did you know they were in love,   
when you saw the picture?"  
  
For a moment the room quieted, and the girls leaned back a little to   
listen to Minako's answer, while still pretending to stare diligently at the TV   
screen.  
  
"It's hard to explain," she said, "but it's part of my powers as the   
senshi of love, to see connections between people. I'm not that great at it,"   
this time she blushed a little sheepishly, "they have to really connected on a   
spiritual, soul-mate level for me to see. But the strings between those two,"   
she motioned to the screen, "are very visible. Even in the tape."  
  
Shocked, Usagi leaned closer to the screen, squinting blue eyes, "You   
mean you can *see* it? What does it look like?"  
  
Laughing quietly, Minako didn't answer for a while, "It's not like   
seeing, so much as feeling. But its like they are connected together, entwined   
with thin strands."  
  
Completely enamored with Minako's words and the couple on the screen,   
Usagi just breathed, "I want to see."  
  
Thoughtfully, Minako replied, "I don't see them all the time, otherwise   
it'd be really tough to walk around and stuff," she giggled, "with all these   
silver strings flying around. But if I concentrate, they are there in a few   
people."  
  
"Wow," Usagi spread her hands, "even me?"  
  
"Especially you," Minako sighed a little enviously, "the first time I   
ever saw the silver strings radiating strongly enough for me to be susceptible   
they were between you and Mamoru. If I concentrate when I'm around you two, I   
can see the air sparkle when you touch."  
  
Wide eyed, Usagi just stared at her hands and squinted a little, as if   
trying to see what Minako saw.  
  
Then she lifted her eyes to the TV screen as the program ended, Chieri   
throwing her arms around Tsuzuki excitedly at their scores were announced   
throughout the arena. 5.9, 5.6, 5.4, 5.7, 5.8, 6.0, 5.8...   
  
Glowing, the image of the two young teenagers on the screen pressed their   
hands together and shared an elated look.  
  
Minako sighed.  
  
"Will you teach me how to see?! Please?!" Usagi said, pulling on   
Minako's arm, begging with hopeful blue eyes.  
  
'There goes my weekend.' Thought the senshi of love.  
~~  
The day was warm, relaxed and sunny. A weekend afternoon in all its   
perfection. The air was sweet with the smell of the pink blossoms from Tokyo's   
famous cherry trees, and filled with the sound of laughter and talking.  
  
Minako, Rei, Ami and Usagi sat on a bench, watching people walk back and   
forth throughout the park, admiring cherry blossoms, playing with children, or   
just being together.  
  
"Okay," Minako said, eyes bright with concentration, "I'm looking for   
something strong enough for you to maybe see."  
  
"Hai, hai," Usagi bounced, excited, squinting around the park with a look   
on her face that made Ami giggle slightly behind her hand.  
  
"There," Minako pointed to an older couple, walking slowly through the   
cherry blossoms.  
  
Leaning so far over as to almost fall off the bench, Usagi narrowed her   
eyes and stared intently at the two people.  
  
Noticing this, the woman elbowed the man slightly, who jumped and turn to   
where his wife was looking. Sweatdropping profusely, both hurried along their   
way, away from the spooky looking girl staring at them.  
  
It was a while later that Minako sighed, "I am about ready to give up on   
you, Usagi."  
  
"Maybe its something she just can't do," Rei suggested, "these powers are   
supposedly inborn, right?"  
  
Stubbornly, Minako shook her head, even as Usagi sighed, "Another thing I   
can't do."  
  
"No," Minako said, "Anyone can see it. They just have to know how. Too   
bad she can't just see them radiating off herself."  
  
"Why not?" Usagi said, sitting up straighter, "You said Mamo-chan and I   
were really strong with this silver thing."  
  
"You can't," Rei said, "To do an accurate reading of anything in the   
range of the sixth sense, spiritual, you must be apart as a third person. Only   
the most skilled can do readings on themselves, and that involves a sort of   
separation between Self and Mind which takes years to perfect."  
  
Ami nodded, "According to studies on this subject, she's perfectly   
correct. Think about it: Minako sees the physical manifestation of your   
feelings for Mamoru-kun, something coming from your own soul. Since you are   
creating the strings, so to speak, you cannot observe them from outside the   
feeling."  
  
Usagi blinked at them for a few minutes.   
  
"You just can't," Minako told her simply.  
  
At Minako's 'Usagi-friendly' explanation, the smaller girl nodded, "Got   
it."  
  
"What about Asuka and Tsuzuki?" asked Ami, "You said they were extremely   
connected."  
  
"Yeah!" Usagi said, leaping into the air to stand before her friends,   
filled with excitement, "Mamo-chan got tickets for the coming competition from   
their coach to thank him for returning the necklace! I can try then!!"  
  
"How many tickets did you get?" Minako asked, standing over Usagi   
suddenly.  
  
Sweatdropping, Usagi answered, "Four." Shrinking away from her friend's   
looks, she said, "I was going to bring Makoto since she's such a fan. And then   
Mamo-chan said I could also choose the one other person to bring..."  
  
The next few minutes found the blonde tearing through the park screaming   
for help, while being chased by two of her closest friends, begging her at the   
top of their lungs to choose them.  
  
Ami sat quietly on the bench, notebook in hand, pencil scratching along   
the paper, "If I corner Usagi when they come back around the loop," she   
murmured to herself, "I can convince her with these arguments that she   
definitely needs to take me to see Tsuzuki-sama..."  
~~  
  
Chieri walked dejectedly to the cot by the side of the rink, sitting down   
heavily on the mattress and covering her face with her hands.  
  
"Okay," Tsuzuki said diplomatically as he took off his skates, "that   
could probably have gone better. But we have time..."  
  
"No," Chieri said softly, "we don't have time to fix all this before the   
competition next week and you know it."  
  
He sat next to her, not touching her but watching her carefully, his eyes   
showing all the sadness and frustration his face didn't.  
  
"Maybe we just don't work so well together anymore." Chieri said,   
softly, admitting what they were both afraid of. "Our bodies are changing, our   
skating styles are changing, our focuses are changing... maybe it was   
inevitable."  
  
Chieri looked up quickly when she felt Tsuzuki take her shoulders in his   
hands and force her to look at him, "Don't be stupid, Cherry! I've begged you   
before not to quit skating and you ended up a champion! You said you would   
pair skate with me, you said you would help our dreams come true! Don't back   
out now."  
  
He pressed his lips to hers, aggressively, quickly, before breaking away   
and meeting her eyes. "I need you. We can fix this problem, together. Okay?"  
  
It was nearing midnight, but Chieri had fallen asleep alone in this huge   
private arena many times after night practice, sometimes with Tsuzuki passing   
out beside her in the wee hours of the morning, skates still laced onto their   
feet. Yawning, the small girl prepared herself for a similar night, she'd have   
to re-wear her school uniform tomorrow, have to skate to school just to make it   
on time. She leaned her head against Tsuzuki's shoulder and said, "Okay, how   
do we fix it?"  
  
"You told me once," he said, "that on the ice you clear your mind.   
Instead of thinking of the program and what to do, you feel your way through   
the program."  
  
She nodded, eyes slipping shut.  
  
"I do that, too, think only of what I want the audience to feel, what I   
feel," he continued.  
  
"But in pair skating you can't do that," she said sleepily, "you can't   
change the program because your partner depends on it. You have to   
think...think about everything..."  
  
She was asleep before the sentence was over, and Tsuzuki lifted her   
lovingly and placed her on the cot, covering her thin body with the thick   
blanket to ward off the cold of the rink.  
  
What she had just told him was still heavy in his mind as he turned to   
look at the expense of man-made ice behind him, a strange blue color in the   
nighttime lighting.   
  
'My only angel,' he thought, 'once you found your own personality on the   
ice, you were unstoppable. You and I would trust our feelings to guide us at   
every performance, every competition.'   
  
He knew they could, somehow, clear their minds while skating and not   
worry about what was planned. They always kept unison, always kept the style   
even when their minds were filled with nothing but skating, nothing but each   
other. As if their arms and hands and feet were pulling and bound together on   
the ice, they moved as one person. 'With wings', Chieri used to say, and he   
called her angel. But when had she started thinking so technically? When had   
she worried so much over one little jump?  
  
Tsuzuki leaned over her, and brushed a strand of soft hair away from her   
sleeping face. 'When did you start to doubt yourself so much?'  
~~  
  
To be continued in Part II.  
  
*a-Hem* E-MAIL ME!  
  



	2. Part II

Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi is a genius, pure and simple. Let's sacrifice at   
her altar, after I give thanks for The Cherry Project and Sailormoon, whose   
characters I manipulate a lot, when I get sick of manipulating my friends.  
~~  
  
Silver Strings  
A Love Story based on the Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and The Cherry   
Project, both works of manga-ka Naoko Takeuchi.  
  
by Antigone  
2000  
  
PART II  
  
I. For Love  
  
Mamoru sighed as he blinked to refocus his eyes on the textbook in front   
of him. The rain beat steadily on the windows of his apartment, sending   
strange shadows across the room, and the small text printed on the pages.   
  
At his sigh, Usagi didn't wake from her position asleep on his shoulder,   
but she did stir a little, nestling closer to him and shivering a little. Her   
math book lay unopened on the floor.  
  
Knowing it wouldn't wake her, he turned to her and said, out loud, "You   
know, Usako, if you weren't incapable of staying awake to study your own school   
work, I would be able to turn on a light or two in here."  
  
Usagi, for her part, was dead to the world, and Mamoru knew she would be   
until he finally figured out a way to wake her up in time to get her home   
before her father got the SWAT team surrounding his apartment.   
  
Unfortunately, waking up Tsukino Usagi was no easy task. He tried   
everything; shaking her did no good, neither did shouting at her, and if he   
kissed her she would just murmur his name and go back to the land of her   
dreams. Cold water made her angry, and he didn't quite agree with Luna's   
advice ("I just scratch her a few times," the cat had said, sagely, not   
understanding why Mamoru had sweatdropped).  
  
Luckily, this time, nature helped him out a little. A quick flash of   
lightening brightened the room for a moment, and a low, barely audible thunder   
mumbled far away.  
  
"Auggh!! Mamo-chan! Kowai!"   
  
And he found himself with a trembling little blonde in his arms, suddenly   
wide-awake and demanding comfort from him. Now.  
  
Sighing, he put down the textbook. He'd have to pull another late   
nighter, he guessed. Usagi sniffled again as another flash quickly danced in   
front of the window before going out in another, louder, crash.   
  
'Ah, well, she couldn't help it if a thunderstorm had decided to settle   
over Tokyo', Mamoru thought, putting his arms around her.   
  
"It's okay," he said, fumbling to his end table for the remote control.   
Flipping on the weather channel he watched for a while, then said, "See? It's   
going to pass a few miles to the East following the low pressure sys-uh, it's   
not going to come here. We'll only get some drizzle and see the lightening   
from far away."  
  
Whimpering a little, she lifted large, wary eyes to the rain-drenched   
windows. "Okay," she said softly, still not leaving his arms.  
  
For a moments the only sound in the room was the pounding rain and soft   
rumbles of far away thunder. As it faded, Mamoru stirred a little, brushing   
Usagi's hair back to see if she was still awake. She was, bright blue eyes   
staring back into his.   
  
"Thank you," she said softly.  
  
"Nani?" he asked, confused, and she lifted her eyes to smile at him.  
  
"For understanding."  
  
She smiled at him, beautifully, and touched his face gently with the tips   
of her fingers.  
  
The air shimmered and sparkled with a silver light neither noticed as   
blue eyes gazed timelessly into each other, until another far away crash of   
thunder launched Usagi back into his arms.  
~~  
  
Sweating, Chieri tugged at the suddenly mercilessly tight fabric of the   
short dress Yuni had helped design for the technical number. The rink,   
although usually what Chieri liked to call 'pleasantly cool', seemed stiflingly   
hot. The humidity from the solid rainfall outside did nothing to better the   
conditions either. In the heavy air, it was as if she *feel* the competition   
approaching closer and closer, breathing down her neck.  
  
"Here," Kouichi said softly, handing the small blonde a full water   
bottle, which she accepted gratefully. It seemed some of her friends were   
there, a few of her new Green Garden classmates were seating in the stands,   
along with Tsuzuki's many female admirers.   
  
Horishi leaned his head back on his arms as he sat in the front row   
judges station, watching Mori have a very animated conversation with the   
Tsuzuki as the two skaters took their short break.  
  
"So you are definitely going to do the Les Miserables medley for   
technical?" he said to Chieri, shifting his tweed 40's style cap on his head,   
  
"Are you sure it's not too varied for you to get a solid foundation?"  
  
Chieri stared wide-eyed into the water bottle, and Yuni and Kouichi both   
gave Horishi sharp looks.  
  
"Hey," Yuni said, "Coach said it was fine, it gives a nice style that   
they can use to put in the most impressive moves."  
  
"But if you saved it for the more creative short number..."  
  
"It's too late to change the music," Chieri said, "so let's not worry   
about it, okay?"  
  
"Besides," a deep voice said from behind them, "we have music for the   
creative piece already." Tsuzuki leaned his arms on the side of the rink,   
separated from his friends by the chest-high barrier.   
  
There was a tittering from up in the stands, and Tsuzuki gave Yuni a dark   
look. "Is there any way to get rid of them?" he asked his friends, nodding his   
head up to the spectators and fan-girls heaping over the stands.  
  
"Not politely," Chieri answered, finishing some water and offering the   
bottle to Tsuzuki. She had grown used to Tsuzuki's horde of adoring fans,   
after all, she was the same way not too long ago. If having a poster of   
Tsuzuki and kissing it before every singles competition (for good luck, of   
course) wasn't considered otaku, she didn't know what was. Still, it made her   
a little nervous to touch him with them watching, even in the program.  
  
"Polite? Only a soft person like Chieri would worry about being polite,"   
a huffy female voice said, and suddenly beautiful little Canty was spinning out   
on the ice, like a butterfly angel.   
  
Doing a few quick, high jumps, she turned to face the stunned crowd and   
lifted her commanding voice, "Alright everyone! This is not a free   
performance, this is serious training! If you want to see Asuka and Tsuzuki-  
kun skate, buy tickets for the show in two days. Now," the aforenamed   
'Princess' put her hands on her hips and glared into the audience, "get out of   
my rink!"  
  
'Princess?' Yuni thought, hiding a smile, 'Wataru was right, she *is*   
more like a Queen.'  
  
Sighing a little, Chieri watched her classmates leave, most of them   
giving Tsuzuki regretful looks. She wanted to thank Canty, but knew the   
prideful, mature girl would abhor any gratitude from her ex-rival. So instead,   
the older girl just watched Canty perform a few more jumps, her famed   
quadruple, a dizzying spin, and finally a bow to the remaining six members of   
her audience.  
  
"Show off," her brother muttered under his breath, shaking his head and   
heading for a seat next to Horishi.  
  
"Miss doing jumps like that, Cherry?" Tsuzuki asked, winking at the girl   
grinning back up at him.  
  
"Hai, hai," she said, "but I sure don't miss competing with the   
Princess!"  
  
"Okay, break has gone on for much too long!" Mori said, short wavy hair   
bouncing as she hurried over to the pair, obviously having been distracted by   
something very pressing to have let them relax so long.  
  
As they skated to the center of the ice, ready to await the musical cue,   
Tsuzuki leaned down and murmured something unusual into her ear, "Do you trust   
me?"  
  
And before she could answer, the music had started. And every thought   
faded from her mind.  
  
The ice seemed to radiate an energy that made her feel beautiful and   
confident all at once. Poor little Asuka Chieri knew she was infamous for   
being a bundle of nerves before any performance, trusting good luck charms and   
rituals and shaking like a leaf. Ironically, Tsuzuki was well-known for his   
nerves of steel, his ability to focus completely on the task at hand without a   
trace of fear.   
  
He was always calming her, 100% efficient down to the good-luck kiss that   
had become tradition before every big show. But once the music started, once   
they were spinning together to the music in their hearts that echoed out   
through their movements, they were the same. Neither was nervous, neither was   
tired, neither was alone.  
  
This time was one of the rare run-throughs where she landed, although   
very sloppily, on the throw, matched perfectly with chord after the crescendo.   
The timing was flawless, though, as she grabbed Tsuzuki's hand and shut her   
eyes to avoid being dizzy as the room spun in colors around her he pulled her   
through the death-spiral.  
  
The music grew lonely and sad, like raindrops, for the musical version of   
'On My Own' as they ran through some spins, alone but always in perfect unison.   
The music swelled to 'Bring Him Home' and faded in the finale, all the pieces   
blending at once, and he lifted Chieri high in the air, she opened her arms the   
judge stand, now filled with her closest friends, and lifted her chin to the   
ceiling.  
  
The balance was delicate, but Tsuzuki didn't tremble once. One move by   
him and Chieri could fall to the rock-hard surface of the ice, perhaps injuring   
herself beyond repair. But neither flinched until the last note echoed   
throughout the room and Chieri was lowered so both blades touched the ice   
steadily.  
  
The applause was meager in the huge, empty room, but Kouichi's whistles   
and Yuni's cheers filled her heart more than a million screaming fans. Mori   
had a few technical notes on her board, but her proud eyes were obvious as she   
smiled at the two. But the best thing for Chieri was Tsuzuki's arms around her   
from behind, feeling him grin although she couldn't see him, both of them   
glowing with the pride they always felt after a complete run-through, whether   
it was judged or not. 'We did it. Together.'  
  
But she couldn't help wondering at his strange question before the   
practice, and what it meant.  
  
And the competition still loomed oppressively ahead of her like some   
strange dark cloud. They both knew their creativity and flair would count for   
next to nothing in the technical, yet both those things were their only   
strength. 'At least as it stands now,' Chieri thought, 'if I can't land that   
jump in the technical, it doesn't matter how good our creative piece is, we are   
lost against the older, more established pairs out there.'   
  
Mori told them to prepare to run their Creative, which flowed like warm   
butter and ran perfectly in both their veins. Chieri loved the soft music   
chosen, the romantic dance moves Mori had included, and the confidence it   
brought her to skate it so well. But she knew it was simple, too simple, for   
it to save them.  
  
'If I can't bring up my technique,' she thought despairingly as Tsuzuki   
took her hand and the second musical piece echoed throughout the arena, 'then   
Tsuzuki's dreams will never come true. And it will be all my fault.'  
~~  
  
The rain was lifting slightly from Tokyo, softening its drum on Mamoru's   
windows, and letting a soft glow of late afternoon sunlight filter through the   
drops.   
  
"Usako, *what* are you doing?" Mamoru asked, for about the third time,   
and Usagi just responded in the same way she had the first two times: With   
short little jolt of her head, as if his question was annoying her and she   
wished he would just let her continue with her research unmolested.  
  
He really was sorry for bothering her, but even with his famed focus on   
studies, it was a little hard to ignore her pert little index finger poking him   
in the shoulder every few seconds.  
  
Usagi squinted at her finger, lifting to her eyes, before lowering it to   
his shoulder again, touching him lightly, and then examining the area where her   
figure rested closely.  
  
Finally, sighing, she leaned her head on her arm, muttering something   
about 'stupid Minako, always being right...'  
  
'Minako? Always right?' he thought, then shook his head. 'I must have   
heard wrong.'   
  
"Usako, w-"  
  
She suddenly brightened, sitting up straight. "Can we go down to the   
Takanawa Wing?"  
  
"Wh-"  
  
"Please?!"  
  
"But I-"  
  
"Mori-san said we were welcome anytime to watch them skate!"  
  
"Usa-"  
  
"Great! Thanks, Mamo-chan, I love you!"  
  
He knew it was useless to resist, she knew it was useless for him to   
resist, so for a moment Mamoru wondered why he even attempted to divert Usagi's   
attention once her resolve was so stubbornly set on something. It was obvious   
wasted energy that Usagi apparently thought could be put to better use, like   
taking her to an ice-skating rink in the rain. He knew he'd end up spending   
two week's salary on her dinner, nearly loose his teeth when he brought her   
home to her father late, and possibly have to deal with any one of many   
disasters that always followed in her wake.  
  
And the really, really scary thing was that he really didn't mind one   
bit. 'I must be crazy' he reflected seriously. He'd check himself into a   
mental institution, if it didn't mean such a long time away from Usagi.  
  
"Watcha thinking about?" she asked him, innocently, narrowing lovely blue   
eyes thoughtfully at him from the doorway, impatiently hopping from one foot to   
the other.  
  
"Nothing," he said, equally as innocently, taking his jacket from the peg   
by the door and following her out. "Nothing at all."  
  
"Then hurry!" her indignant little voice was the last sound to echo back   
into the empty apartment as the door closed.  
  
On the street below, Mamoru's rich laughter over Usagi's childlike   
demanding of what was just so funny, fell like the raindrops over ears of   
anyone nearby.  
  
II. With Heart  
  
  
"The rain is letting up," Canty informed the party stationed at the rink.   
She removed her stylish clear jacket and shook droplets from her perfectly   
crimped hair.   
  
"Were where you all this time?" Yuni asked, feet propped on the seat in   
front of her, bundled in Kouichi's comfortable jacket. The three supports,   
best friends, and number one fans of Tsuzuki and Chieri, were setting up to   
spend a long night with the two famous teenagers as they had many times before.   
Although Yuni was the only person among them who couldn't do a jump on skates   
to save her life, ("rail cleaner" was actually what they lovingly called her),   
she felt at home among these people, bonded by all the time they've spent to   
make Chieri and Tsuzuki's dreams come true. The Cherry Project, Yuni felt, had   
never truly disbanded.   
  
"Perhaps she was with a boy," Hiroshi said, his calm voice muffled by his   
hat, pulled down below his eyes.   
  
"Shut up!" Canty said, shifting her eyes, a blush tainted her cheeks. "I   
don't have to put up with this from you," whirling around on the heel of one   
fashionable black boot, she lifted her head and walked to the other side of the   
rink.  
  
Chieri looked up from lacing her skates in shock. Then, smiling a   
little, she concentrated on pulling the string tighter around her ankle. It   
was stupid to think Canty's feelings for Tsuzuki would last this long. She   
found herself wondering what type of boy such an amazingly grown-up girl like   
Canty would fall for, but also, for a strange reason, she was extremely happy   
for the snobby girl she used to dislike so much.  
  
Interrupting her thoughts, Coach Mori called to her from the middle of   
the ice, and waving cheerfully to her friends, the small girl skated to wear   
her coach and partner were waiting for her.  
  
"How is she doing?" Kouichi asked Yuni, concern and brotherly love for   
the bubbly Chieri evident in his gaze as he watched her do some quick warm-ups.  
  
"She's nervous," Yuni admitted.  
  
"But Chieri's always nervous," Hiroshi said, leaning over to look at his   
two friends.  
  
"No," Kouichi said appraisingly, "no, it's not just that. Something's   
changed in her skating. It's like she's like a robot doing moves and jumps,   
she's lost her trust in... in something. Tsuzuki's noticed it, too."  
  
"He's afraid she might be loosing faith in him," Yuni surmised, looking   
at Kouichi in sad shock.  
  
"Or," Hiroshi added, lifting his eyes to the couple before him, "in   
*them*."  
  
"Excuse me," a soft voice interrupted their hushed conversation and three   
pairs of eyes turned to the smiling face of Tsukino Usagi. Mamoru stood a   
little bit behind her, politely inclining his head to the people before him.  
  
"Hey," Hiroshi said, "it's you."  
  
"Hi, You," Yuni joked, readjusting her feet so she was more comfortable,   
"I'm Nishimura Yuni. This is Kouichi,"  
  
"The super-handsome one," Kouichi put in, giving a mock-salute.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Yuni continued, "The aloof guy in the hat is Hiroshi,   
whom you've met."  
  
"Briefly," Mamoru said, smiling. "I'm Chiba Mamoru, this is Tsukino   
Usagi."  
  
"They brought Chieri's necklace back for her," Hiroshi explained,   
detachedly.  
  
"Oh, then I guess you can stay, unless Cherry objects when she notices,"   
Yuni said, scooting over for Usagi to sit down. Mamoru took a seat behind her,   
resting his arms on his knees, and leaned forward to join in the girls'   
conversation.  
  
"This is so kakkoi!" the blonde exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Are they   
rehearsing now?" Chieri spun a few times on the ice, stretching her muscles   
after the hour break they had taken at dinner. Tsuzuki lifted her and spun   
once, a rare smile beaming from his face.  
  
Yuni blinked, "Hai. This is their last major practice before the show.   
Tomorrow they run through it once or twice, accepting that if they do it too   
many times before the show they'll over-practice and overwork themselves.   
Mostly they rest and eat the day before the competition."  
  
"And sometimes spend some quality time on the various non-skating actives   
most couples en-"  
  
"Kouichi!" Yuni hit him lightly, and took a handful of potato chips from   
the bag he held.  
  
"What?" He grinned, "Just telling it like it is."  
  
Hiroshi rolled his eyes.  
  
"You go to Green Garden, huh?" Usagi said a little wistfully, leaning   
her head on her hand. "Must be nice."  
  
They three nodded, agreeing, "But its hard work," Yuni added, "Just ask   
Cherry. Where do you go?"  
  
"Juuban," Usagi said.  
  
"Sugoi! Do you know Haruna-sensei?"  
  
Just then Coach Mori's whistle blew once, loudly.  
  
And Tsuzuki and Chieri snapped to attention, posed gracefully in the   
middle of the ice. Then the music started.  
  
Yuni leaned over and murmured to Usagi and Mamoru, "This is their   
technical piece. It's less of an exhibition and more of a program. Their   
creative program is the best, it'll blow the judges away. But this is   
extremely important, too, and they are having trouble with it, so they've been   
practicing a lot."  
  
Usagi dreamily watched Chieri and Tsuzuki perform to the varied music,   
expressing feeling with every move. Chieri looked elated when she went fast   
around the ice, Tsuzuki in step with her all the way. He, she reflected,   
certainly did fit his 'poker face' reputation, although his eyes lit up with   
something special when he looked at Chieri.  
  
The music swelled, they glided to face each other, hands gracefully   
touching, arms held like dancers', when Usagi saw.  
  
Shimmering, gleaming, the strands were barely visible, only shining in   
certain places. Like a twine of foil reflecting the lights, it swirled like a   
thing alive, around fingers and legs and hearts.  
  
Gasping, Usagi grabbed Mamoru's hand, and looked up at him in amazement.   
"Do you see it?" she cried, and he just blinked at her.   
  
"See what?"  
  
Entwining her slender fingers through his, she whispered, "Look with your   
heart, Mamo-chan."  
  
~~  
  
  
Chieri made her way to the locker room, knowing she only had, at most,   
ten minutes of break before Mori would make her get back on the ice again. It   
was for the best, she knew, if she stopped too long the lactic acid would cause   
her muscles to ache too much to practice much longer. But she cringed to think   
how sore she would be tomorrow.  
  
"C-chotto..." a shy voice at her arm made Chieri spin around to find   
herself staring straight into sparkling blue eyes.  
  
The unfamiliar girl smiled, and Chieri felt any inhibitions or annoyance   
she may have been feeling melt away. She felt herself smiling back before she   
knew what she was doing.  
  
"Hi, do I know you?"  
  
Blushing, Usagi answered, "I'm Tsukino Usagi. You lost your necklace and   
my boyfriend found it for you. So now we have tickets for your show, but I   
just wanted to thank you so much-"  
  
"Thank me?" Chieri asked, turning to and waving Usagi into the locker   
room with her, "Why?"  
  
Sitting down on a bench, Usagi tilted her head to the side, letting one   
lovely blonde pigtail fall across the bench to almost touch the tiled floor.   
Her legs were swinging back and forth beneath her school-girl dress and her   
eyes were soft and dreamy. Watching her in the mirror as Chieri washed her   
hands, the girl could only think about how much Usagi reminded her of herself,   
when all she was was a living, breathing bundle of beautiful dreams.  
  
"Because you were so beautiful out there."  
  
Chieri paused. She'd heard that phrase a million times before, it was   
always flattering, especially wonderful when it came from her father, or   
friends. But for some reason, this little slip of a girl made her feel as if   
it might be actually be true.  
  
Taking a second to study blonde curls and blue eyes in the mirror, Chieri   
took pause. Was she really beautiful to Usagi's eyes, spinning in Tsuzuki's   
arms?  
  
Turning, Chieri smiled at Usagi, who returned the grin with equal girlish   
excitement. "Well, then, thank you, Tsukino Usagi."  
  
"Guess what, Angel," Tsuzuki leaned casually against the doorway, smiling   
a polite 'hello' to Usagi and turning back to Chieri, "she wants us to go   
through the technical again, then the Creative."  
  
Shaking her head and smiling, Chieri moved to put her things back into   
her locker. "I'll be right out."  
  
"It's a lot of work, isn't it?" The soft, innocent voice said, eyes   
amazed and awed.  
  
"Yes it is," Chieri said, eyes softening, "but I love it."  
~~  
  
Chieri noticed Usagi left in the middle of the technical run-through,   
waving good-bye to the boys and Yuni. The little girl was extremely sleepy,   
and Mamoru had to practically lift her in his arms to take her home.  
  
Yawning, the tired athlete stretched her arms and smiled, "I wish I could   
just be carried home now."  
  
Coach Mori smiled a little sardonically, "Dream on, Cherry-chan."  
  
Laughing, Tsuzuki entwined his arms around her slowly around her waist,   
"Who are you going to get to carry you, Cherry? My arms hurt enough."  
  
She giggled, stuck her tongue out at him.   
  
"Been eating enough chocolate bananas, lately?" he smiled.  
  
"Yes," she said sweetly, "Are you going to call me 'monkey' now?" They   
shared a tender smile before Mori clapped her hands swiftly.   
  
"Let's get all the small things fixed before tomorrow, so you can both   
rest up for the big day Tuesday. Ne?"  
  
Glancing at the stands, to her tired, wired, wonderful friends, and   
feeling Tsuzuki's warm arms around her, Chieri felt that all the muscle-aches   
and late nights in the world were more than worth this. No matter what   
happened Tuesday.  
~~  
  
"So," Mamoru said, that bright, clear Tuesday afternoon, "who did you   
finally decide to bring to the Takanawa Wing tonight?"  
  
"Mako-chan," came the simple answer.  
  
"I know, but-"  
  
"Actually, I went to Juuban Junior High school today," she smiled   
secretively, "and left one ticket with a certain Haruna-sensei."  
  
Mamoru blinked.  
  
Eyes twinkling, Usagi answered, "Well, she was Chieri-san's homeroom   
teacher at her old school. She saw the entire Tsuzuki to Chieri romance   
unfold."  
  
She took his hand and smiled up at him, "And I have to tell you, the real   
story is a million times better than what Mako-chan heard."*  
  
Mamoru laughed, and shook his head. Only she would think to give her old   
teacher, who she didn't even get along with, tickets to an ice show her friends   
were all fighting over.  
  
Then again, only she would do most of things she does.  
  
Usagi glanced up, caught the intense look in his eyes. "What?" she asked   
a little nervously. He just smiled.  
  
"Nothing. I was just wondering if they would room us together at the   
looney bin."   
  
"Okay, Mamo-chan," she said, shaking her head and laughing a bit.   
"Whatever."  
  
[*the 'real' Tsuzuki/Asuka story is told in Naoko's The Cherry Project.   
You'll have to read it to know. ^_-]  
  
  
III. If I Fall...  
  
  
The show was sold out, and the crowd was huge as Usagi, Mamoru and Makoto   
made their way through the Takanawa Wing's doors. Careful not to get   
separated, they stuck closely together as Mamoru looked at the numbers on the   
tickets in his hand.   
  
"Wow," he said softly. The people in this business sure knew how to show   
gratitude.  
  
Makoto was practically squealing as they sat in their third row seats,   
clutching a large, colorful, expensive program to her chest and letting her   
eyes dart wildly around the rink. "Sugoi," she whispered.  
  
Usagi, for her part, looked a little pale and nervous. When Mamoru   
leaned over the ask what was wrong, the blonde only fidgeted more. "I'm   
nervous for Chieri-san."  
  
Laughing, Makoto shook her head at her naïve, empathic friend. "Usagi-  
chan, she's a champion! Don't worry!" Then, the tall brunette leaned over the   
talk to Mamoru, since Usagi apparently wasn't interested in conversation.   
  
"That's Chieri's father down there," she said, pointing to a tall, light-  
haired man sitting in the front row, "he was a famous Olympic skater..."  
  
As her friend's voice rang in her eyes, Usagi looked down at the program   
she made Mamoru buy for her. Flipping through the photos of the pairs that   
would be performing tonight, she stopped on the small picture next to Asuka's   
bio.  
  
'Even champions get nervous.'  
~~  
  
Maybe it was a nervous habit, maybe it was just something to do with her   
hands, or maybe it was sheer curiosity that made Chieri press her hand to her   
heart before going on onto the ice at shows. It raced, as it always did,   
flighty, rabid pounds against her palm, her throat, and her stomach. Trembling   
she paced back and forth, wringing her hands slightly. Her skates were knotted   
together and flung over one thin shoulder.  
  
She was alone. This was the worst part of every show. Tsuzuki, calm as   
can be, was still getting ready in the changing room and would be for a while.   
Meanwhile, nervous little Chieri was all ready to go out on the ice, although   
they weren't on until third.  
  
To pass the time, and avoid looking at the other beautiful, accomplished,   
confident woman around her, she looked down at Yuni's latest creation.  
  
Her dress was supposed to fit the music, a peasant-like outfit of the   
time period from the musical. It looked almost two-piece, a dark jumper-like   
dress and thin, white sleeves Yuni informed her were supposed to end in   
fluttery, cutted patterns. Her friend had looked brown eyes into Chieri's and   
explained what the outfit symbolized, but at this moment she could think of   
nothing but the program.  
  
The music for the first pair started, and startled Chieri violently.   
  
Before long, though, a warm, steady hand found its way to her trembling   
shoulder and she offered Tsuzuki a shakey smile. "Nervous, Cherry?" he asked,   
needlessly.  
  
Even as she nodded, she opened her eyes wide to feel his hands brushing   
against her neck as he fastened something gently around her throat.  
  
Looking into his eyes as her mother's necklace feel around her neck, she   
whispered his name, like she had the first time he placed the golden chain   
around her neck.  
  
"I got it fixed for you," he said, smiling a little.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered.  
  
The first pair spun to a stop and bowed.  
  
Chieri squeezed Tsuzuki's hand.  
~~  
  
"They were wonderful," said Makoto as the second pair ended with a   
flourish.  
  
"Shh!" Usagi said, leaning forward and grabbing Mamoru's arm in a death-  
grip that made him sweatdrop. "Chieri's on next!"  
  
Sure enough, Tsuzuki and Asuka were skating out to the ice, smiling to   
the children who gathered flowers and gifts tossed to the pair just leaving.  
  
"I wish I'd thought to bring something," Makoto sighed.  
  
"Haruna-sensei has flowers," Mamoru said, nodding his head toward the   
tall, read-head a few seats down, "I think Usagi convinced her earlier to sign   
the card from all of us."  
  
Feeling a sudden rush of affection for her odango-ed friend, Makoto   
smiled. 'Only her,' Makoto mouthed over Usagi's head to Mamoru, who grinned   
back at her.  
  
Then the music started. And all three pairs of eyes locked themselves to   
the couple on the ice.  
~~   
  
The chords began softly, and Chieri broke the comforting gaze she had   
kept with Tsuzuki and began to move. The program was memorized so deeply in   
her that she just flowed with the music, feeling Tsuzuki next to her, and   
allowing herself to trust what her body did while her soul filled with love.  
  
Relaxed and happy, Chieri felt a shift in her world when the first few   
chords of 'Do You Hear the People Sing' echoed in the rink. Heart in her   
throat, she readied herself for the throw. Like practiced a million times   
before, Tsuzuki spun before her and she caught herself in his arms. His eyes   
met hers, shining with faith. Her heart sank.  
He let her go, up in the air like he expected her to fly on the angel wings she   
might not have.  
  
And she crashed to Earth.   
  
The cold surface beneath her hands and knees was a let down, a horrible   
shock she didn't have time to register before her training kicked in. Push up   
with your hands, steady yourself and go on.  
  
And go on she did. Tears stung her eyes, and she refused to give into   
them. She could feel Tsuzuki's fingers brush her own and Chieri felt a   
frustrating wave of guilt wash over her. Not once looking his way, she forced   
herself to calm down, running through the piece in her mind. Counting the   
beats to the music, she readied herself to spin, to turn, to jump, and to   
smile. At the end, when Tsuzuki lifted her to the audience, she mechanically   
spread her arms and lifted her chin, tears already sparkling down her face.  
  
He lowered her to the ice and she stood there, not meeting his eyes. The   
cruel camera zoomed in on her face, so her disappointment could be broadcast   
over the monitors for all to see. Noticing this, Tsuzuki gently took her arm   
and they hurried off the ice.  
  
Coach Mori instantly embraced her in the kiss'n'cry, and Tsuzuki reached   
for her but she yanked herself away from his touch, collapsing onto a bench as   
they waited for the scores to be announced.  
~~  
  
Three girls and two cats sat in stunned silence in front of their   
television screen, listening the commentator's hushed tones as they did replay   
after cruel replay of Chieri's spectacular fall.  
  
"She had too much spin in her body, and see, her knee just crumbled   
beneath her," a female voice said, "she recovered quickly from the fall   
itself."  
  
"But," a male voice sad, with the faux regret of someone trained in their   
line of work, "Asuka never did regain her timing throughout that entire piece.   
I have to say, it was one of Asuka and Tsuzuki's worst pieces since they   
started skating together."  
  
"It's really a shame," the female voice added, "they have so much   
potential."  
  
"Here come the scores, extremely low for such a promising-" but he was   
drowned out by the gasps and groans of all watching the program from Minako's   
living room.  
  
"4.1? *3.8*?!" Ami was shocked at the lowest score on the screen,   
"Surely a fall couldn't have cost that much!"  
  
"I hope Mako-chan beats that judge up," added Rei. No one mentioned the   
horrible, obvious difference between the two graceful people on Makoto's old   
tape and the program they had just seen.  
  
"They'll have to make up for a lot in Creative program to even place   
third in this competition," the woman was saying, and Minako calmly lifted the   
remote control and pressed the 'mute' button violently.  
  
~~ IV. Silver Strings  
  
  
"Where's Cherry?" Demanded Yuni, hands on hips, as she faced Tsuzuki in   
the wings. The soft music from the next performers was quietly heard through   
the walls of the rink, applause signaling the end.  
  
Tsuzuki didn't turn away from Mori, who he was apparently having an   
animated discussion with. Shifting his eyes to the floor, he answered, "I   
don't know. And if I know Cherry, she doesn't want to see anyone right now   
anyway."  
  
Narrowing her eyes, Yuni choked, "You won't even look for her! When will   
you ever stop leaving her alone?!" With that Chieri's best friend turned and   
ran, leaving only Coach Mori to witness Tsuzuki angrily slam his fist against   
the wall, blue eyes resembling storms.  
  
"You don't have to do this, Tsuzuki," she said gently, "if you don't   
feel-"  
  
"It doesn't matter what I feel. It's her," he lifted his eyes to   
Chieri's coach, "I have to get her trust herself again."  
  
"It's risky. Do you feel she can handle it?"  
  
His eyes cleared a little. "Cherry makes the impossible possible," he   
told her, confidence in his gaze. "And I have to prove that to her."  
~~   
  
Mamoru was seriously worried about Usagi. After hearing the scores   
announced over the rink, Usagi had blanched and mumbled something about having   
to talk to Chieri. The entire program Usagi's eyes had been trained to the   
couple, happy when they started out so well, but audibly gasping when Chieri   
tumbled onto the ice.  
  
From there, the two teens' program had gone downhill steadily, the timing   
was off and even stoic Tsuzuki had looked worried during some of the tense   
moments. At the end, Usagi's eyes were filled with tears.  
  
"Usako," he had said softly, but she jumped up and started hurrying down   
the stairs and to the kiss'n'cry area.  
  
"I have to try to explain-" she started, as she left Makoto and Mamoru in   
their seats, "I'll be right back," she called to them as the next performers   
skated out on the ice.  
  
'I just hope someone I met last night is there to let me in.' Usagi was   
thinking, 'And I hope I can make Chieri understand what I saw up there.'  
  
It took her a while to find the girl, since Chieri had pressed her little   
body up against the side of the back stairs, knees to her chest, making herself   
as small as possible in such a far corner of the rink.  
  
"Oh, Chieri-san," Usagi breathed, for a second departing from her usually   
happy-go-lucky self, her deeply sympathetic heart aching for this girl,   
"Daijobu ka?"  
  
"I-iie," Chieri said miserably. She leaned her head against the cold   
wall and thought back the only other time she had felt so afraid and   
pitiable... when the ice had suddenly become her worst enemy.  
  
"H-how can I look at him?" she asked, desperately, blue eyes searching   
Usagi's for the answer, "I destroyed his dreams. I always knew... knew I could   
never soar as high as Tsuzuki." She sighed, lowering her eyes, "I was always   
on borrowed wings. With me, he only has potential."  
  
"But you're Asuka and Tsuzuki! How can you have one without the other?"   
Usagi demanded, sitting herself next to her newfound friend. "Without you...   
how can he skate without you?!"  
  
Quiet footsteps announced Yuni's entrance, concern for her friend and   
slight surprise at seeing Usagi flitting across her pretty features. For a   
moment she was silent, then her eyes lightened, and she watched Usagi at work.   
Somehow she knew; this wasn't the first time the little blonde schoolgirl had   
mended a broken heart.   
  
"You could never be one without the other," Usagi said, sagely, "That's   
what the strings mean."  
  
"The strings?" Chieri asked, confused.  
  
But Usagi was talking half to herself, eyes wide with the realization   
dawning across her face. "That's why we see them, they bind us, heart to   
heart..." She and Mamoru shared pain, dreams, fear... everything. In battle,   
he knew her next move, she could work with him in perfect sync without a   
thought-out plan beforehand. They had always trusted their hearts, and hence,   
the strings of silver to guide them, lure them, always to each other.  
  
"Chieri-san," Usagi started, "they pull at you. In your heart, in your   
soul... your wings... you stopped trusting them."  
  
"What were you thinking of, Cherry-chan, during the last part of your   
program?" Yuni asked, gently.  
  
Blinking, Chieri sat up, looking from Usagi to Yuni, "I was thinking   
about the program, what I needed to do next, how many counts to the beat, what   
Tsuzuki must be thinking of me..."  
  
Usagi was silent for a moment. "I saw them, Chieri-san. You'll think   
I'm crazy, but I saw the thin strands of something tangible between you two.   
After you fell, they were guiding you but you stopped following them."  
  
"You have to trust him, trust yourself," Yuni said, "again."  
  
There were a few moments of silence as Chieri blinked away a few tears.   
"Tsuzuki's dreams..."  
  
"Cherry," Yuni said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder, "*you*   
are his dream. You always were."  
  
The two girls were quiet, awaiting the skater's decision.   
  
Finally, she met Yuni's eyes and offered her a tiny, watery smile. "It's   
almost time for me to change into my short program costume, isn't it?" Chieri   
asked weakly.  
  
~~  
  
Dressed in her white and silver body-suit dress, Chieri found Tsuzuki   
waiting for her in his silver and white costume. For once, he was ready before   
her.  
  
"Tsuzuki," she started, but he stopped her, silently coming up to her and   
putting his warm hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Do you trust me?" he whispered, eyes asking her permission for something   
she couldn't understand.  
  
Did she? For a moment she remembered Usagi's explanation of the sparkle   
in the air, the thin yarns of pure love that could bind and protect. She   
remembered the first ever time she had pair skated with Tsuzuki... unplanned,   
unpredicted, in front of her entire school. With his wings, she soared.  
  
"Yes," she answered him, "with anything."  
  
And as always before they skated, for good luck, so she felt she could   
skate wonderfully, he brushed his lips to hers.  
  
Usagi rejoined her two companions in their seats right before the music   
ended for the couple before Tsuzuki and Chieri. Because they had scored so low   
on the technical, Asuka and Tsuzuki were one of the last few selected couples   
to perform a creative short program.  
  
As she sat down, Mamoru whispered, "Is everything alright?"  
  
She smiled at him, a light in her eyes he would never forget. "Hai, my   
Mamo-chan. I hope so."  
~~  
  
The lights dimmed. The music started, just a simple melody, legato and   
light. It chased around the area as the lights lifted to Tsuzuki and Chieri,   
lovely like blue-eyed, blonde haired angels in snowy white and sparkling ice   
silver.  
  
She moved first, circling him as the music changed, deep rich melodies   
flowing under quicksilver staccato. He took her hand, and the chords rang over   
the rink like they had willed it to do so.  
  
This program was always their best, Mori, Yuni, the boys, and even Canty   
had agreed. The music was beautiful, dramatic and romantic, and the moves   
seemed to sing with the melody like a chorus tuned to perfect time.  
  
"What music is this?" Mamoru whispered to his girlfriend, flipping   
through her program to the right page.  
  
Usagi shook her head, unwilling to take her eyes of the beautiful couple   
below them on the rink.   
  
Makoto answered him from memory, murmuring in hushed tones as her green   
eyes locked on Asuka and Tsuzuki, "It's a piece by Amade Yuusuke, written for   
his wife, Ahkiko.*"  
  
"Sugoi," Usagi whispered back, recognizing the names, "What's the piece   
called?"  
  
Makoto sighed as Chieri leaned back over Tsuzuki's arms, spinning nearly   
parallel to the ice, "Giniro no Himo*."  
  
~~  
  
It was wonderful, this feeling, the layers of the ice building up with   
energy to flow through her skates, her legs, her hands to Tsuzuki's as they   
glided through the piece with ease. With the lights spinning around her, for a   
moment Chieri could forget their horrible standing in the competition and just   
enjoy dancing with Tsuzuki on the rink.  
  
As they spun to the crossover, Tsuzuki took her hand, and Chieri looked   
up at him, confused.  
  
Winking a little, he opened his eyes to her and she felt something tug at   
her heart.  
  
'Do you trust me?'  
  
She widened her eyes as he lifted her up into his arms. The music, was   
it the music? she heard something beautiful, was filling her so much. Her   
love for skating, for Tsuzuki, for this feeling...  
  
Before she knew it, he had thrown her into the air and she twisted, once,   
twice, three times...  
  
And landed, perfectly, onto the ice.  
~~  
  
"Amazing!" cried the commentators over Minako's cheers, "A completely   
unplanned move on Tsuzuki's part. It didn't even look as if Asuka was   
expecting it at first. But she nailed it!"  
  
"Look at that landing! This addition to a creative program could pull   
them into the top three pairs tonight!"  
  
"This is utterly unique," the woman agreed, "but then again, what else   
could you expect from Tsuzuki and Asuka?"  
  
"These two could skate forever."  
  
Rei and Minako slapped five, and Ami was grinning ear-to-ear. Even Luna   
and Artemis were sharing in the joy of the entire party assembled.   
  
"Score one for true love!"  
  
"You mean score 6.0 for true love," Ami corrected Minako, smiling,   
earning groans from all present.  
~~  
  
The music had crescendo-ed just at the climax of the throw, the chord   
ringing just as Chieri's skates touched the ice again.  
  
Somehow, they finished program completely in time with the music. Both   
forgot the technicalities and tiny details they hammered out, and allowed   
themselves the privilege of the truly talented: they relaxed. Skating like   
nothing existed by the audience, their message, and each other. Wings and   
silver strings danced around them like illusions of light, and they finished in   
flurry of music, poses and triumph.  
  
Usagi stood in her seat to clap, and most of the other spectators joined   
in her enthusiasm. Chieri and even Tsuzuki were visibly glowing with happiness   
as roses, stuffed animals, and chocolate bananas rained down onto the ice.  
  
The cameras zoomed in on the tears on Mori's face, Yuni and Kouichi   
hugging happily, Asuka-san watching with pride, and Tsuzuki and Chieri, wrapped   
in each other's arms, kissing under the shower of flower petals.  
  
[* you remember them right? From episode 6? You know you do. And I knew the   
anime would sneak in here, somehow.]  
[*Giniro no Himo=Silver Strings. Creative of me, ne?]  
  
  
Epilouge  
  
I. Skate Forever  
  
"Tsuzuki-kun!" Yuni was as delighted as Chieri at their nearly perfect   
6.0s on the creative, rocketing the pair up to second place, but she was still   
terrified at her friend's unexpected move.  
  
"What were you thinking?" she raged, hands on hips, "If you took her by   
enough surprise that she landed wrong, you could have killed her!"  
  
"Ah," he said, "but I took her by enough surprise that she landed   
correctly."   
  
Chieri bit her lip, arms full of fragrant flowers and delicious looking   
chocolate bananas, watching her friend. Yuni got angry with Tsuzuki almost   
regularly, mostly on behalf of Chieri herself.  
  
"But-"  
  
Coach Mori put a calming hand on Yuni's arm, "It's okay, Yuni. We had   
discussed it beforehand."  
  
Chieri looked up in surprise, "Without telling me?"  
  
"And make you even more nervous so that you psyched yourself out of   
landing correctly?" Mori challenged.   
  
"You have something special," she continued, "between you two. I don't   
know what it is, but somehow you managed to revise an entire program, at the   
last moment, *on the ice*, and still have it come off in perfect unison. I   
trusted you both to make that decision on whether to give yourselves another   
chance on that throw and I have to say... I am very glad you did!"  
  
"I have faith in her," Tsuzuki said, "she flies on angel's wings, or   
didn't you know that?" He grinned at his friends and coach, his arms tight   
around Chieri's thin shoulders.  
  
"Thank you," she said softly, and he looked down at her, as the others   
took a quick hint and busied themselves gathering clothing and flowers from   
around the locker room.  
  
"For?"  
  
"Understanding how much this means to me."  
  
Pulling her tightly into his arms, he whispered, "My only angel, I beg   
you, never make me do something like that again. Yuni was right, it is   
dangerous, and I don't want to hurt you. Never, ever..."  
  
She smiled, understanding the sacrifices he had made to pull off that   
throw, to return her faith. "We have a good shot at All-Japan now. That means   
we could possibly set the Olympics in our sights."  
  
He returned her smile, sadly, "Then...?"  
  
Chieri thought of the strings connecting them that Usagi had told her   
about, every time they touched the air was charged with a power that felt like   
flying through the rink, felt like reaching the sky. Every time he touched   
her, smiled at her, it was like flying, it was like spinning,... it was like   
skating.  
  
They danced in their hearts to the rhythms as they did on the ice, and   
she knew that feeling was captured forever in the silver strands that bound   
them. No matter where their future took them.  
  
"Skate with me forever," Chieri said, blue eyes full of meaning.  
  
Tsuzuki Masanori, famous stoic ice-prince and future CEO of Tsuzuki   
International Inc., grinned like a little boy at Christmas. "Forever and day,"   
he responed, pulling her into his embrace.  
  
  
Outside, an elated Usagi, filled with happiness for her friend, laughed   
in the warm spring weather as she fell under the pile of cherry blossoms Makoto   
and Mamoru were throwing at her. The park was nearly empty, since the party   
had stayed a little late at the rink, meeting people and congratulating   
friends. Falling beside her, Mamoru brushed some wayward petals out of her   
blonde hair, both were smiling with the inner glow that illuminated Tsuzuki and   
Chieri that night as well.  
  
Makoto sighed, squinting a little past the setting sun. Funny, tonight, it   
looked almost silver.  
  
  
FIN!  
  
Send all love letters, fanmail, flames, corrections, large cases of unmarked bills, pocky, questions and marshmallow peeps (don't you LOVE those things?) to: Antigone@lunap.com. or, or, you can reveiw!  



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